US Army Expeditionary Labs For Troops In Afghanistan Bring Engineers To Soldiers

If the soldiers can get all the tools they need to develop rapid prototypes right on the battlefield, they can keep themselves up-to-date with the most advanced and latest gear. And US Army wants its soldiers in Afghanistan to do just that. The US Army's Rapid Equipping Force have started sending the 'Expeditionary Labs' which is essentially a 20-foot container that includes every necessary tool (including a CNC machine, plasma cutters, welders, routers, magnetic mounted drill presses, circular saws, jigsaws, electric hacksaws and even an advanced 3D printer) that an engineer would need to build weapons weapons for the soldiers on spot. This container as a whole costs them a whooping $2.8 million!

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This innovative (as well as destructive) idea of the Lab equips a satellite communication facility so that the two engineers that come bundled inside it can talk  over video-calls to their peers in US. When traveling from one place to another, the soldiers can airlift the whole container or even take it along even by road through trucks. Check out this video -



Via: US Army sends rapid prototyping labs to Afghanistan, prepares to battle insurgents with 3D printed equipment | ExtremeTech